Make in India : Will Swadeshi 2.0 Help India Outperform China?

Swadeshi – that clarion call for self-reliance – first heard in 1905, asking Indians to boycott British products and embrace the home-grown, is  making a comeback it seems, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Only this time, the object of protest is China. Open WhatsApp or Instagram today, and a video or a meme asking to ‘Say No to Chinese Goods’ or ‘Buy Indian, Be Indian’, is likely to pop up.

Growing outrage over China’s perceived complicity in the spread of COVID-19 has given rise to this ‘Boycott China’ ethos in India, echoing a groundswell of similar anger in other countries. The trade war started by the US against China two years ago seems to be globalising in the wake of the pandemic, as countries undertake a slew of anti-China measures that range from re-shoring businesses from China, creating alternative production chains, to stemming Chinese investments.

Japan’s retraction of its businesses from China, the Indian government’s revision of its FDI policy in the aftermath of the People’s Bank of China raising its stake in HDFC, the US Senate’s bill to delist Chinese companies from American stock exchanges, are examples. Of course, China is  responding with retaliatory tactics, as is only to be expected.